Ë¿¹ÏAPP

Craft courses, particularly those that serve as foundations in each of our genres, will focus on discussing techniques and approaches to that particular genre. These courses serve to provide a strong fundamental possession over a genre’s key components, tools, and strategies. Typically, these courses’ primary materials will likely be craft books and other writing about writing rather than, say, stories, essays, poems, etc., though you will likely encounter some model materials by way of examples of craft deployment.

Any course not overtly marked “L” or “W” (or “LW”) after its title is a craft-oriented course, though all of our courses involve the study of craft, either (or both) directly or indirectly.

All students in the program are required to take one of our Craft Foundations courses, but it is highly recommended, for the purposes of being a well-rounded writer sharpening the tools of craft from different angles, that students take at least two of these courses.

All courses, but especially craft courses, focus on our first program learning objective, emphasizing craft, by which students will be able to define craft in creative work and articulate the reasoning behind the craft choices in their own creative work.

Example courses include (but are not limited to):

IMF51671 Fiction: Craft Foundations
IMF51739 Poetry: Craft Foundations
IMF52329 Nonfiction: Creative Nonfiction Craft Foundations
IMF62001 YA-MG: Young Adult and Middle Grade Craft Foundations

Literature courses—those with an L designated at the end—focus on either a writer, a movement, a period, or a style, and are going to place greater emphasis on studying and improving craft by studying model texts. There may be workshopping of your work in these courses, but a greater emphasis will be placed on examining the writing of successful, published authors, and workshops will usually be of shorter exercises or take place in small groups rather than be structured as full-class workshops. If you aren’t sure if a literature course includes workshopping, please review the description of that class; if you’re still not sure, feel free to contact the instructor to ask if this has bearing on your interest in taking the course.

Because the best writers are the best readers, it is recommended, but again not required, that students take at least two literature courses as part of their program, preferably at least one of which focuses on a writer outside of their genre of emphasis, if the student is pursuing an emphasis area.

These courses place emphasis on our second program learning objective, literature, by which students will be able to articulate their creative lineage, connecting creative production of their own to a larger literary tradition either within their genre or across several.

Example courses include (but are not limited to):

IMF51646 Fiction: Hemingway Versus Faulkner L
IMF51734 Poetry: WS Merwyn and the Art of the Line L
IMF52319 Nonfiction: Contemporary Personal Essay Collections L
IMF62005 YA-MG: Contemporary Young Adult Literature L

Workshop courses—designated with a W at the end—are exactly what they sound like: courses focusing primarily on workshopping your, and your peers’, writing. There will usually (though not always) be discussion of model texts, but most of the work of these courses will be production and discussion of student writing. Consider these an inverse, of a kind, of the literature courses.

Sample courses include (but are not limited to):

IMF51621 Fiction: Speculative Fiction W
IMF51724 Focused Poetry Workshop I W
IMF52325 Nonfiction: Spiritual Writing: Memoir W
IMF52401 Scriptwriting: Workshop W
IMF62007 YA-MG: Middle Grade Workshop W

Some courses are marked as both L and W. These will be a combination of workshop and literature. How does this differ from craft courses? Generally, rather than serving to look broadly and fundamentally at a genre of writing from a techniques perspective, these courses will use the form or author(s) selected as the looking glass for the production and study of one’s own work in that form or style. These courses seek to balance the study of master texts and the application to your own craft.

These courses focus on our third program learning objective, workshop, by which students will hone their skills in giving and receiving creative feedback in a productive and respectful manner and in revising creative work to better meet their artistic objectives.

Sample courses include (but aren’t limited to):

IMF51615 Fiction: Writing Your Novella or Long Short Story LW
IMF51705 Poetry: The Contemporary Narrative Poem LW
IMF52334 Nonfiction: Narrative Journalism LW
IMF62004 YA-MG: Blurring Boundaries in Young Adult Writing LW

Finally, we also offer a number of professional courses that look at the industry itself, from both the perspective of the writer trying to publish work and from the side of the editors, agents, and publishers who put said work out into the world.

Sample courses include (but aren’t limited to):

IMF60200 Submitting Work for Publication
IMF60500 Literary Journal Editing & Production
IMF60800 Fiction: The Practical Writer: YA and Kid Lit

IMF 50000 Orientation
IMF 51600-51699 Fiction
IMF 51700-51799 Poetry
IMF 52300-52399 Nonfiction
IMF 52400-52499 Scriptwriting
IMF 60000-61999 Professional
IMF 62000-62999 Young Adult and Middle Grade Writing

The MFA in Writing program is available in traditional, virtual, and hybrid formats. Students can choose between fully online study or incorporate one hybrid class per eight-week term, combining virtual learning with sessions at the St. Louis/St. Charles campus. No campus residency is required to complete the degree.

The MFA curriculum features diverse workshop opportunities, literature studies, and craft-focused courses across multiple genres, including fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and writing for young readers. Each course emphasizes developing writing techniques through hands-on workshops and craft study.

The program offers an affordable 48-credit curriculum structured into convenient eight-week terms: two during fall semester, two in spring, and one summer session. Classes are intimate in size to ensure individualized mentoring from experienced faculty who are accomplished writers, journalists, and editors.

The program provides professional development opportunities including publishing guidance, teaching preparation, industry-focused courses, and the chance to gain editorial experience with The Ë¿¹ÏAPP Review, the university’s literary journal. Students receive hands-on experience preparing them for careers in writing and publishing.

Admission requires approval of your creative writing sample and personal statement. Special scholarship opportunities may be available for educators (K-12 and higher education) and students aged 60 and above. The program welcomes writers from all walks of life and particularly values the perspectives of military veterans.